Up by four with less than five minutes left in the game, the Terps looked to chew clock and add on to their lead.
Roman Hemby helped in a big way.
On third-and-nine, Hemby took a handoff to his right before bouncing back to the middle. Hemby took the carry 46 yards, bringing into the redzone.
Billy Edwards Jr., who entered as quarterback early in the fourth quarter after Taulia Tagovailoa was carted off the field, capped off the drive with a three-yard score on the ground.
“I hate the fashion I went in, for a teammate of mine to get injured, but ‘Locks’ preaches the ‘next man up mentality,’” Edwards Jr. said.
Edwards Jr.’s score gave needed insurance for Maryland football, who exited Bloomington with a 38-33 win. Hemby finished with 107 yards on the ground, his third 100-yard game of the season, and also added four catches for 25 yards to help pace the Terps’ offense.
“Big Ten road wins are tough … it’s great for our team the way we faced the adversity,” coach Mike Locksley said. “A lot of guys that haven’t played a lot of football had to step up.”
Maryland played without key pieces on both sides of the ball. Left tackle Jaelyn Duncan (personal) and defensive back Jakorian Bennett (injury) were both out, and linebacker Ruben Hyppolite II and defensive backs Glendon Miller and Gavin Gibson did not travel to Indiana.
Despite starting the game on defense, Maryland struck first just two minutes in.
The opening play from scrimmage was a Tarheeb Still interception, as the defensive back caught the deflected pass at the Indiana 29. The Terps needed just four plays to score, as the drive was capped off with a Tagovailoa three-yard rushing touchdown.
The touchdown kept Maryland’s streak alive of scoring on its first possession in every game this season, the only team in the country to do so.
Indiana responded with a 38-yard field goal, trimming its deficit down to four, 7-3.
Just 11 seconds into the second quarter, Tagovailoa scored his second touchdown of the game, this time through the air.
Maryland’s signal caller scrambled to his right before finding an open CJ Dippre in the middle of the field. The tight end, who started the play as a blocker, sneaked open as Tagovailoa extended the play. Dippre caught the pass around the five and dove over a pair of Indiana defenders into the endzone, giving Maryland a double-digit lead, 14-3.
On the Terps’ next drive, Chad Ryland missed a 51-yard field goal wide left. After starting the season 5-5, the Eastern Michigan transfer has missed a kick in each of Maryland’s past three games.
Indiana scored its first touchdown of the game less than three minutes later, when quarterback Connor Bazelak scrambled and found a wide open Josh Henderson 20 yards downfield. The running back coasted untouched into the endzone, putting the Hoosiers within four, 14-10.
The Hoosiers scored seven on their next drive as well, taking their first lead of the game.
Indiana punted on 4th-and-8 near midfield on the drive, but a defensive holding penalty before the kick called on defensive lineman Taizse Johnson resulted in an automatic first down for the Hoosiers.
Five plays later, Bazelak connected with wideout Cam Camper for a three-yard touchdown.
Camper’s score was the last of the half, as Indiana held a 17-14 lead at halftime.
Octavian Smith Jr. took the opening kickoff of the second half 54 yards into Indiana territory, setting up the Maryland offense with a short field to work with.
After not registering a catch in the first half, wideout Dontay Demus Jr. snagged his first on the opening drive of the second half, and it was a big one. Demus Jr. corralled a 17-yard pass in the endzone for the touchdown, his first of the season.
The touchdown capped off a four-play drive that gave Maryland the lead, 21-17.
Defensive back Deonte Banks intercepted Bazelak on Indiana’s first play of the half, and Maryland capitalized on the takeaway as Ryland connected from 36-yards out to extend the Terps’ lead to seven, 24-17.
Indiana’s next drive lasted 17 plays and five-and-a-half minutes, but the Maryland defense stood strong near the endzone to hold the Hoosiers to three. Charles Campbell’s second made field goal of the day trimmed the Hoosiers’ deficit down to four, 24-20.
The Hoosiers re-gained the lead just two plays into the fourth quarter, when Henderson powered his way up the middle for a two-yard rushing touchdown.
With just over 12 minutes left in the fourth quarter, Tagovailoa went down awkwardly as he fell backward over an Indiana defender. Tagovailoa immediately clutched his right knee in severe pain, and had to be carted off the field.
“It was a lower-leg injury, I don’t know if it was knee or ankle … probably won’t be clear until tomorrow,” Locksley said. “When we get back we’ll get an MRI.”
Edwards Jr. entered at quarterback the rest of the way.
Edwards Jr.’s second drive was a beauty, as his 31-yard rush set up the Terps with a goal-to-go situation. Hemby scored from six yards out, re-gaining the lead for Maryland, 31-27.
The Terps got the ball back less than a minute later after wideout Andison Coby fumbled near the sideline and Maryland pounced on it for the takeaway.
Maryland capitalized, as Edwards Jr. scored from three-yards out with his legs to put the Terps up 11 with 2:11 left in the game.
Indiana scored a touchdown in under a minute-and-a-half, but the unsuccessful two-point conversion kept its deficit at five.
The ensuing onside kick was recovered by Maryland, clinching the 38-33 win for the Terps.
“Billy did a great job coming in, making plays, leading us to scores when we really, really needed them,” Still said.
The win improved Maryland to 5-2, and the Terps will return to College Park with a home matchup against Northwestern up next.
While Tagovailoa’s health will be an important factor for Maryland moving forward, the Terps are now on the verge of bowl eligibility. It took until the final game of the season to clinch a shot at a bowl game in 2021, and with five games to go in 2022 — three of which are at home — The Terps could not only earn that right, but also finish with their best record since 2008.
